Finding A Way Forward Through Chaotic Times by David Nicol

Finding A Way Forward Through Chaotic Times by David Nicol

Thank you to David Nicol for sharing his spiritual vision during these transitional times.

“One of the characteristics of our strange new post-­‐US election world is that things are in such flux it is difficult to orient ourselves to the new environment and know what actions to take. It is as though a bomb has blown open a gaping hole in the established structures of thought, leaving most of us scrambling to make sense of our new reality. We are being required to re-­‐ evaluate our most fundamental assumptions about how things are and where we thought we were going.

“In this psychic maelstrom there are real dangers. We can hear in our times the echoes of previous traumatic episodes of history, and many of us are working hard to assess whether or not our situation will likely unfold in similar fashion. However, this opening also creates an unprecedented space for the influx into society of radically creative ideas and energies. Thus we also have an opportunity to make rapid, non-­‐linear progress in our collective evolution.

“Much of my work over the past ten years has involved tuning into and working with collective fields of consciousness. What I sense emerging on a deep level in the collective right now are new energies of unprecedented creative power. It is as though there is virtually unlimited support for completely fresh ideas and directions, whereas old, habitual arrangements seem by comparison almost lifeless. We are all up-­‐leveling to a fundamentally new world and are being asked to discover our new shape in this emerging reality. “The sense is that creative evolutionary forces are vigorously engaged in a process of absorbing, metabolizing, and re-­‐calibrating to the shock of the disruption. The depth of the blow will in due course catalyze creative responses of equal and opposite magnitude. But these responses will not arise from the same states of consciousness we currently identify with. In grappling with the crisis, we ourselves will undergo a fundamental transformation. We are all being called to a higher level of integration, individually and collectively.

“The light of awareness is strongly illuminating the shadow right now, at both personal and collective levels. It is an opportune time to look unflinchingly, but with great compassion, at our own places of personal weakness and egoic resistance. Where do we drag our feet in our process of becoming awake and whole? What dysfunctional patterns of behavior and thought do we tend to indulge, even after years of inner work? What places do we feel deep down are ‘impossible’ to shift? Where do we stubbornly hold onto our defensive structures, although on some level we know better? Just holding these questions sincerely can invite a more pristine awareness into even these extremely challenging parts of our psyches.

“In this process, it is crucial to understand that we are not doing it alone, nor are we doing it just for our own benefit. The crisis into which we have been thrown has made it clear that we are linked together in an epic evolutionary drama, and we all need to do our part. As we heal and integrate the places of deepest resistance in our own psyches, we contribute to the development of a collective psychic capacity to integrate the most fearful and defended aspects of our society.

“To accomplish this inner work may require a certain level of individual courage, but it is not occurring in isolation. We are rising in awareness together, and we can all help each other lean into the hard places. Much of the work involves simply having the humility to acknowledge that we, like everyone else, have our shortcomings, and then allowing ourselves to receive the support of our fellow travelers and the heightened energies of transformation available right now.

“The threat of losing that which we hold precious about human civilization and life on Earth is indeed precipitating a collective awakening in human consciousness. Our shared sense of vulnerability is bringing a greater poignancy and immediacy to all our connections. There is a widespread sincerity to ask real questions and a willingness to go to a deeper level. These conditions can lead to the emergence of something truly remarkable in collective human awareness, even while we face grave dangers. ”

The Caterpillar, the Butterfly & the World

Imagine for a moment that you are a caterpillar who is finishing up with caterpillar life. You have instinctively wrapped yourself in a cocoon. Your old life is dissolving. Nothing works anymore. It looks like chaos. It looks like the end.

Then, in your imagination, put yourself in the position of being the butterfly coming into being as the caterpillar finishes. It feels to you now like the caterpillar has recycled himself to support your new life. Caterpillar chaos and death (?) seems to be allowing room for and actually supporting your becoming something else – something quite new.

One thing we can do in these times of upheaval and turmoil in the world, is to consider this metaphor to begin to look at situations through the eyes of the butterfly. These new eyes focus not so much on the destruction of the old but see most clearly the arising of a new possibility for humankind.